What was the movie you most looked forward to seeing? After seeing it, were you satisfied or not?
For me, it was The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I really enjoyed it.
Return of the Jedi, which left me greatly disappointed.
I might have said Phantom Menace, but by the time it came out I really wasn’t expecting all that much. 
As a lifelong Silver Age comic book fan, it was Marvel’s The Avengers. Yeah, it was worth the wait.
Aliens 3. After years of watching Aliens we were convinced that Aliens 3 would be awesome.
It was not.
Lord of the Rings - very happy. One of the few that lived up to it.
Phantom menace - wow. Sad.
Black Hawk Down- I had read the articles, so was pretty familiar with the story
The Hobbit- was disappointed
Easily The Phantom Menace. With 20/20 Hindsight we know what happened but at the time, the anticipation leading up to it was at least as great and if anything more hopeful than what we have now with The Force Awakens. Seriously, read the press at the time. It looked like it was going to be awesome and there was literally nothing I wanted to see more than a new Star Wars movie.
‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. I actually thought, ‘now I can die happy’.
I was dying to see ‘Dark Shadows’ (with Johnny Depp!) for years, but that was a big bunch of nothin’.
I’ve been hoping and hoping and hoping they would make a live version of ‘The Last Unicorn’. It was in the planning stages, and then it was pulled. There’s still a cult-y cartoon version, but why the HELL can’t they make a live version? Jonathan Rhys Meyers (as Schmendrick) is living on borrowed time, with all his boozing, let him stay well enough for ‘TLU’.
I rather liked all the Star Wars original films, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I had to go to great lengths to see The Empire Strikes Back, as I lived in a little tiny town with no theater.
As an adult, I looked forward to Dungeons and Dragons. It’s a movie based on a game that’s all about hanging a story on a preexisting structure! How could it NOT be good? Regrettably it stank on ice.
The Star Wars prequels, I anticipated, but wasn’t crazy about, particularly the first one. They were certainly competently made films… but seemed lacking, as compared to the first round. Not sure if it’s because I’m no longer twelve years old, or simply due to Jar Jar Binks and the most awkward romance I’ve seen since the sixth grade.
My daughter loved Aliens, partly due to the fact that the hero is a woman who kicks ass, a strong female protagonist. So naturally, she was hyped to see Aliens 3. She was disappointed.
I agree with the OP; it was definitely The Two Towers. I absolutely loved Fellowship, but I had zero expectations for it before it came out. In fact, I fully expected it to suck. I was delighted to be wrong, and couldn’t wait for TTT to come out a year later. ROTK is probably a close second.
Prometheus. I loved /hated /loved it.
In early 1982 I saw a trailer for the latest movie by Ridley Scott (the guy who made Alien in 1979). This trailer blew me away!! The images flew by quick, the music was mesmerizing and it looked like nothing I’d ever seen in my life. The trailer was for a film called Blade Runner. I was so pumped for this film. Needless to say when I saw it, I was not disappointed.
I remember eagerly awaiting the first Star Trek movie, then being disappointed with a plot that might have made a good TV episode stretched into a feature film (although I still use the term “carbon-based units”). Fortunately it must have done well enough for them to go ahead with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which saved the franchise.
The Shining. I remember seeing the preview in the theater, months before it was to open (or at least it seemed months to my young mind). It was just a long shot of the elevator doors (as far as I can recall there was no dialogue, or even sound for that matter) and then after what seemed like forever the blood came gushing out of the doors and the title appeared with the premier date. I was with my best friend and she kind of went “oh god, you’re going to make me see that”. Oh yes. And it did not disappoint.
I looked forward to The Woman in Black and it was pretty good. Gone Girl was much anticipated and though I enjoyed it I was a bit distracted thinking about how someone who did not read the book saw it and if it made sense.
Certainly Lord of the Rings. I happened to be in Germany the year before it came out and they had publicity stills of the production plastered around their movie theaters. Then I was following it on line and checking out the cast. Overall I was extremely pleased.
I also was excited about Starship Troopers when I heard they were making a movie. Too bad they never actually made a movie from the book. The movie of the same name is complete shit.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues – loved the book, but the film was a disaster.
Mr. Peabody and Sherman – thought it couldn’t NOT be a masterpiece. I was OH, SO WRONG!!!
LOTR, a friend and I used to open any conversation with the number of days until the movie came out.
Yeah, I kind of felt that way about Star Trek: The Motion Picture, simply because the fandom had been clamoring to bring the show back for a decade. There was no WAY that movie was going to fail.
…which was why it stank, because everyone in Hollywood wanted his name on the stinkin’ thing. It was a prime example of “too many cooks.” I still liked it, but I liked the second one a whole lot better.
I expected to like the Hobbit movies more, but found that Peter Jackson’s over the top enhancements and extra scenes kind of ruined it for me. I expected a big dragon and a big pile of gold, not an OCEAN of GOLD and a wyvern BIGGER THAN GOD…
Bigger’s not always better. Too much was too much. And don’t get me started on the barrel escape scene.
Star Trek, the original movie was something most ST fans (including myself) anticipated and I caught it the first night. True, in retrospect and compared to the other movies it was not all that great, but for the fans it was F***** STAR TREK and we ate it up that first night.
The latest movie I have anticipated was The Martian after reading the book last year and hearing they were going to make a movie of it. I was not disappointed.
I have been eagerly anticipating an adaptation of Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama for thirty years, and may have to live another 30 years in anticipation before it ever gets made.
Fight Club - Loved it, but I didn’t like Brad Pitt playing Tyler Durden. It’s not that he did a bad job. It’s that he’s Brad Pitt.
Mystery Men - Not too bad, a little slow in places, it was the first time I really appreciated Ben Stiller